The Dominion Post
February 2, 2004
PM orders independent inquiry
by Leah Haines
Prime Minister Helen Clark has ordered a new, independent
inquiry into allegations of pack-rape by three police officers.
She said a police
investigation alone would not do.
"What we have to ensure is that any inquiry that is done has full
credibility with the public because I think the nature of the allegation is
such that the police investigating itself wouldn't be
enough," she said last night.
Both Miss Clark and Police Minister George Hawkins confirmed they were told
about allegations of sexual offending against Assistant Commissioner Clint
Rickards when his name came up as a potential deputy police commissioner three
years ago.
But Miss Clark confirmed she was not told at the time that a Police Complaints
Authority investigation found flaws in an officer's initial inquiries into Mrs
Nicholas' allegations.
Asked whether she would have expected to have been told about those concerns
when screening an officer for such an important job, she said: "You would
obviously expect that anything relevant to an appointment, you would be advised
of."
But she added: "The (police) commissioner acted quite properly in advising
me as he did."
Police said last night that attaching records of an inquiry in which officers
had been cleared to their files would have been in breach of standard
employment practice and law.
Opposition parties called for an independent inquiry and criticised Police
Minister George Hawkins for not acting sooner.
Tony Ryall, National's police spokesman, said he was
concerned about the effect the allegations would have on front-line police.
The Green Party and ACT said an inquiry should also consider the failure of
police hierarchy to fully investigate the complaints when they were originally
made.